Casino Royale is a 2006 US/UK/Czech James Bond film by Martin Campbell

The MPAA and BBFC asked for cuts to be made to the film in order to gain a PG-13 and 12A rating respectively in the US and UK. The Hong Kong DVD release is fully uncut, restoring all the MPAA and BBFC cuts, and has a DTS soundtrack.

This document outlines the footage missing from the US and UK versions.

US Region 1

* In the opening toilet fight, after Fisher falls back into the toilet cubicle, Bond’s first punch to Fisher’s face has been toned down by a change in edit point. In the uncut R3 disc, we see Bond in a close-up as he pins Fisher to the wall. Then we cut to a rear shot of Bond and Fisher, and we have six frames of Bond swinging his fist before it makes contact with Fisher’s head on the seventh frame. In the R1 version, the close-up of Bond is extended by six frames, and we see him actually throw the punch from this angle, only cutting to the rear shot of Bond and Fisher as the punch makes contact on the seventh frame. This lessens the focus on the impact, as it’s almost as if we don’t see the impact at all since it happens right on an edit point.

* After Bond and Fisher crash through all the cubicles, Bond elbows Fisher in the face and then smashes one of the stall doors into his nose. In the R1 version, the door-smashing is cut.

* As Bond and Fisher dive out of the cubicle and land on the floor, Bond gets to his feet and violently kicks Fisher right in the face. Fisher then picks up a bin and swings it at Bond just as Bond goes in for another kick. In the R1 version, Bond’s first heavy kick is cut, but the first half of his first kick to Fisher is spliced together with Bond’s second kick to the bin Fisher uses to block it. The effect in the cut version is that Bond goes in to kick Fisher, but his kick is blocked by Fisher swinging the bin. This edit in particular is quite jarring.

* When Bond drags Fisher over to the sink in order to drown him, we cut to a low shot of Fisher screaming and flailing his arms around just before Bond forces his head forward towards the sink. In the R1 version, the first part of the shot has been removed, showing Fisher’s screaming and choking as Bond holds him round the neck. All that remains is a brief latter part of the shot, where Bond forces Fisher forward. A second or two later, there is a rather nasty jump in the musical score, whereby the soundtrack has had to be cut in order to account for the missing footage.

* As Bond forces Fisher’s head into the sink, the immediate two shots after Bond smashes the mirror have been removed in the R1 version. We do not see a close-up of Bond’s face violently grimacing as he forces Fisher’s head into the sink below frame, and we do not see the next shot that follows of Fisher spluttering in the water. After this shot in the uncut R3 disc, we cut back to a close-up of Bond. This second shot of Bond is the first shot we see in the R1 version after the mirror is smashed. The sounds of Fisher dying have also been reduced and crossfaded to mask the sound of him spluttering underwater.

* Fisher’s death has been further reduced in the R1 version. The sole shot of Fisher’s head being held under the water in the and the following lengthily shot of Bond continuing to hold Fisher’s head under the water have both been shortened through the addition of alternate footage that shows Fisher’s legs kicking. This is not seen in the R3 disc. In the original uncut version, we have the following sequence of shots:

a) Bond smashes the mirror b) Close-up of Bond violently forcing Fisher’s head into the water below frame c) Close-up of Fisher spluttering in the water d) Second close-up of Bond e) Second shot of Fisher’s head in the water f) Third close-up of Bond as Fisher dies off-screen and Bond lets go

However, in the cut R1 version we have the following:

a) Bond smashes the mirror d) Second close-up of Bond holding Fisher under the water below frame e) First part of the second shot of Fisher under the water -) Shot of Fisher’s legs kicking on the floor f) Latter part of the third close-up of Bond as Fisher dies off-screen and Bond lets go

In other words, the new shot of Fisher’s legs kicking has been inserted to cover the latter part of shot E and the first part of shot F, in order to reduce the focus on Fisher’s drowning in the sink.

* In the stairwell fight, after Obanno's bodyguard is kicked over the staircase, the high shot of him hitting the ground below and dying upon impact has been removed from the R1 disc. Instead, the preceding shot of the fight on the stairs is held slightly longer to cover up the missing footage. In the uncut version, this wide shot is split in two, with the bodyguard hitting the floor breaking the shot. However, due to the wide shot being held longer in the R1 version, it is now ahead of the uncut print.

* As a result of this, the R1 is slightly under running, so the immediate next shot -- a brief close-up of Obanno kicking Bond in the stomach -- has been replaced with a different, slightly longer take. In the uncut version, the shot lasts around 30 frames. In the R1 version the alternate shot lasts around 35 frames.

* After this, Bond throwing Obanno’s head through a glass window has been removed from R1 version.

* Immediately after, Obanno swiping at Bond with his machete has also been removed. The R1 resumes with Bond throwing Obanno into a wall. The first half of Bond throwing Obanno towards the window has been edited together with this second throwing of Obanno towards the wall (minus the first seven frames of the shot), so the PG-13 version makes it look like Bond has simply grabbed Obanno and thrown him into the wall.

* After Obanno is flipped onto his back, Vesper makes a run for it but Obanno grabs her leg and causes her to stumble. The R1 version removes this, resuming on a close-up of Bond getting to his feet.

* After Vesper tries to open the emergency exit, the R1 version misses a brief wide-shot of Bond and Obanno struggling.

* The next shot of Bond kicking Obanno in the thigh and striking him hard in the face causing him to reel backwards is also missing.

* Additionally, the next shot of Bond throwing himself at Obanno and Obanno shoving Bond straight back into the wall behind him has also been removed from the R1 version. This shot also shows Bond raising his elbow up to strike Obanno in the back.

* Immediately after this, the next close-up of Bond elbowing Obanno hard in the back has been trimmed to remove the first of Bond’s two heavy blows. The cut version goes from Vesper trying to open the door, to the second part of the shot of Bond hitting Obanno a second time. As a result, the R1 version makes it look like Bond only elbows Obanno once.

* Following the shot of Vesper turning around to look at Bond and Obanno on the floor, the first five frames of Bond with his arm around Obanno’s neck yanking him backwards have been cut from the R1 version.

* Shortly after, the uncut version shows two shots of Obanno’s legs kicking as Bond chokes him. The second of these shots has been cut from the R1 version.

* After we have cut back to Obanno’s face, the uncut version then shows a shot of Obanno’s hand frantically trying to reach for the gun on the floor. The R1 version removes this shot.

* The immediate next shot of Bond and Obanno struggling has also been cut from the R1 version.

* Following on from this, a second shot of Obanno’s hand trying to reach for the gun has been removed. The R1 version resumes on a close-up of Bond’s face as he chokes Obanno.

* After we see Obanno’s hands fall from around Bond’s face, approximately 31 frames have been removed from the beginning of the next shot of Obanno’s feet kicking on the floor in the R1 version.

* Following that, we cut to Vesper looking on in fright. Right after this shot, the uncut version cuts back to Obanno’s face as he breathes his last breath and dies in Bond’s grip. The edited R1 version instead cuts back to the shot of Obanno’s feet on the floor as they cease kicking, resuming on the latter half of the close-up of Obanno’s face after he has died.

* As Bond gets to his feet, the uncut version cuts to a close-up of Obanno’s dead and bloodied face, before cutting to a shot of Vesper. In the R1 version, the close-up of Obanno is removed and we cut straight to Vesper’s shot.

* Following this shot, to fill in screen time lost by the last cut, the proceeding shot of Bond is slightly extended in the R1 version to show him standing looking at Vesper before walking over to her. It looks to be footage shot before the director called ‘action’, as it appears Daniel Craig is waiting for his cue and makes the editing appear sloppy. In the film world, it makes Bond’s thought processes appear slow, which of course is not the case. It also makes the editing look a little sloppy.

(UK) Region 2

The BBFC published the following statement about the cinema release

Cut on BBFC advice in 2006: This film was originally seen by the BBFC in an unfinished version, for advice as to the film's suitability at '12A'. The BBFC advised the company that the torture scene placed too much emphasis on both the infliction of pain and the sadism of the villain for the requested '12A' category.

When the completed version of the film was submitted for classification, reductions to the torture sequence had been made, including the removal of lingering shots of the rope, close shots of Bond's facial reaction and the substitution of a more distant shot of the beating compared to the original version.

This re-edited version of the scene was considered acceptable at '12A', where the Guidelines permit violence provided there is no dwelling on detail or emphasis on injuries.

Details of resulting cuts:

* In the torture scene, right after LeChiffre says, “You’ve taken good care of your body”, the UK version removes the following shot of him draping the large, knotted end of the rope over Bond’s shoulder and saying to him sadistically, “Such a waste”.

* After LeChiffre moves to Bond’s side following the above shot, the immediate next shot from beneath the chair of the rope swinging backwards and forwards in Bond’s direction has been trimmed. We only see the rope swing once towards Bond and back again, where as the uncut R3 disc has two swings back and forth.

* As LeChiffre takes his second swing at Bond (seen in a wide shot) and strikes him, the close-up of Bond gritting his teeth and shouting in pain on impact has been removed and the preceding wide shot is instead held for the impact, which lessens the focus on Bond’s suffering.

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